ANNA FRITZ

cellist / folksinger

I'm recently back from a brief camping trip at the Oregon Coast to chase away the winter blues. Sometimes the best way to deal with a reality you don't like is to unite with it completely (e.g. go out in the dreary rain) so it can reveal its beauty to you. The coast was marvelous, and actually quite dry, and now I'm home to play some music for you folks in Portland and very slightly beyond!

Show with Huck Notari at The Ranger Station (SE Portland):Saturday, February 28th, 7:30pm4260 SE Hawthorne Blvd.free (suggested donation)I'm sharing the bill with local country-folk artist Huck Notari who writes beautiful timeless songs that make you wish you lived in a cabin in the pines with a wood burning stove. And a dog. I'm on first and then Huck plays around 9, accompanied by Karin Nystrom. You can listen to some of Huck's music here.

And announcing:Songs of Spirit, Justice, and Rebellion: a mini-tour with Seth MartinI'm excited to announce three upcoming dates with folksinger Seth Martin, who I see carrying on the tradition of our mutual heroes Pete Seeger and Utah Phillips. After appreciating each other's work from afar, we've decided to put what we do on the same stage. We're both songwriters with a lot to say about justice and rebellion, we're both deeply connected to Quaker communities, and we're both committed to getting folks singing together! I hope you'll join us at a Friends meeting or church near you! Click here for dates and locations.You can check out Seth's music here.

I'm back from Christmas in the Sonoran Desert outside of Tucson and New Years in southwestern Oregon performing for a bunch of wonderful Quakers. Time to start the new year off with some hometown happenings! I'll be in Portland for the whole month of January and here's what I'm up to:

A show at Mississippi Pizza with David Waingarten: Sunday January 11th, 5:00 - 7:00pm. Details here.

A public singing action at the Planning and Sustainability Commission meeting: Tuesday January 13th, 1:30pm. (THIS IS A NEW UPDATED TIME! Rally at 1:30, hearing at 2:30) (COME SING! A bunch of us are going to sing "Leave it in the Ground" as testimony when they discuss whether to let a propane export terminal go in on the Columbia River right here in Portland!) More info here.

Tomorrow, Sunday December 14th, is my last show of the year and my first solo show in Portland since the summer! (How did that happen?!? All that touring, I guess.) I'll be splitting the bill with the lovelyAnne-Marie Sanderson and we've been working up a little surprise holiday treat for you all! Once in a lifetime, not to be missed! :-)

We'll be at the Waypost at 3120 N. Williams Ave. The show starts at 8:00pm and will wrap up by 10pm. Suggested donation $5 - $20 with no one turned away. It sounds like the Waypost has done some significant renovating since I was there last, making lots more room for concert-goers. Come have a warm drink and listen and sing! I'll try to balance my set between the introversion of this dark time of year and the fire of this important social change we're clamoring for right now. Let's sing some prayers for justice and for healing, then go forth and make it so.

I've been teaching folks a brand new song at my shows this fall that is a tool in our work to halt climate change. In my travels over the last couple of months, singing this song with a room full of people has been the most powerful moment of most every show. Raising our voices together to claim our power, our connection to the land, and our refusal to see it desecrated is a moving experience. I hope this song can help to raise this kind of energy, joy, and resolve at the actions you are planning. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, find the proposed fossil fuel terminal nearest you by clicking HERE. As promised, here are the lyrics and a recording to teach you how the song goes!! TURN THE TRAINS AROUND!!!

Leave it in the Groundby Anna Fritz

Coal, oil, gasnone of these shall passLeave it in the groundand turn the trains around

Cascadia is a place of great powerWe stand at the mouth of the riverrooted to the land and its peoplewe turn the trains around

We are a people awakeningWe are a people reclaimingWe are a people demandingturn the trains around

My solo tour up in NW Washington was so beautiful, abundant, and alive that I gotta get out and play some more! Traveling around and over the Salish Sea was a beautiful experience and the rooms full of present, engaged, and singing people were a joy to play for and connect with! More please!! :-)

I'm getting back on the road in just two weeks heading to points south, namely Eugene, Ashland, Sacramento, and San Jose. These dates are coming up fast, so please get them on your calendars and forward this post to people you know in these towns. I notice that as I travel, the ripples from previous shows spread outward with friends telling friends that they've got to come to the next one. Please be part of that web of folks spreading the word!

I'm getting geared up for my travels to the beautiful state of Washington and I'm excited to announce an additional show:Olympia on October 17th! We've also added an opening act for the performance in Port Townsend on Monday, October 13th. Her name is Alexa Sunshine Rose and you can check her out right HERE. I'm working on some new material that I hope to share with folks at these shows - some of it from a songwriting retreat I did in southern Oregon this spring, and some of it that has sprung from the rising tide of energy in this world to fight climate change!! Come sing with me!

Your favorite cello-wielding folksinger is hitting the road! It's been wonderful to play at home this spring and summer, sharing music with the communities I love in my own dear Portland. This fall, though, I've been invited to perform in several towns in the beautiful state of Washington so I'll be north-bound in October.

Thanks to everybody that came out to the shows I played with Carsie Blanton at the end of June! It was great to finally get my solo act up on a legit club stage with a spotlight and everything. :-) Big gratitude to all you Seattle folks who weren't too shy (or too cool) for singing along. It warmed my heart to hear your voices! July is keeping me grounded at home with a house show at Foster Eco-Village this weekend. Come check out the beauty of their permaculture gardens and stay for the cello music and singing!

And then, Sunday July 20th, the one and only Kyleen King splits the bill with me at Mississippi Pizza. Kyleen and I have been playing strings on some pretty killer records lately (look for the next My Morning Jacket and Decemberists albums), but we've yet to share the stage as solo artists. I'm looking forward to this, and it's not just because there's gluten free pizza involved. Early show! See you there!

KBOO Radio Interview and Carsie Blanton shows (Portland and SEATTLE!)David Waingarten and I had a blast playing together last night at Magnolia's Corner, but before we did, I gave a live in-studio performance at KBOO Community Radio. You can listen to the whole thing right here!Coming up next weekend, I'll be performing at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Portland at NE 20th and Killingsworth. The lovely and talented Carsie Blanton will be in town (one night only!) with her hot-shot New Orleans band to play sultry classic jazz tunes from her new record. That's on Saturday night, June 28th, at 7pm. And then on Sunday, June 29th, I'll follow those guys up to Seattle where I'm opening for them at the Columbia City Theater at 8pm. Come on out Seattle folks!!xo,Anna

The beauty of Portland summer is upon us, I'm settled in a new apartment that is deliciously close to Mt. Tabor, and there is much music to share!I played a solo set at Bloom Festival this weekend at Tryon Life Community Farm in the Maple Grove. What a sweet and special place. Lovely to see your faces!But I'm just getting started!!My next two public performances will be at Magnolia's Corner with the one and only David Waingarten who has a whole new batch of beautifully crafted songs he's getting ready to release (which happen to be rather cello-heavy! :-)And then my old friend Carsie Blanton is coming to town (from New Orleans) with her band on a CD release tour. We're going to put on a show together at Redeemer Lutheran Church in NE Portland. All the details are HEREwith some more July dates and more to be announced soon......

For now, I'm off to do some recording with The Decemberists! Yee-haw!!See you out there!xoAnna

It's hard to leave Portland when the two-story magnolia tree outside my kitchen window is in full bloom! But I'm off to the woods for a writing retreat in southern Oregon. Old growth and fast-moving water await. Readying myself to listen deeply and let new songs emerge.

There are more shows in the works for April in the Portland area! A couple of them are already confirmed. Details are HERE!Wish me luck and see you soon....Love,Anna